Cooking With Ottolenghi in November

November promises to be distinctly delicious in the Lambs’ Ears Cookbook Club. This month we’ll be sharing our favourites, as we all cook with Ottolenghi – yes, any Ottolenghi.

 

So, here we are in November in the Lambs’ Ears Cookbook Club, and this month we will be cooking with Ottolenghi. That’s right, pick your favourite Ottolenghi books and recipes and just go for it!

It’s not hard to understand why we love Ottolenghi’s food – it covers so many aspects of  what is important to food lovers today. This is interesting food that is boldly flavour-driven, vegetable-forward, and abundantly generous. His dishes are bright and colourful to look at, making them the  eye-catching feature of any table, be it a shared meal with friends, or simply a family meal. It’s creative and inventive, giving cooks the opportunity to flex their own imaginations and to try different taste combinations. 

Finally, when we’re cooking with Ottolenghi we can all get a little fancy, without making life hard for ourselves.  Most of his recipes are elevated enough to make us feel like we’ve achieved something deliciously fabulous, without turning us into screaming wrecks in the kitchen. (I’m flashing back to Jamie Leigh Curtis and her unforgettable seven fishes episode in “The Bear”. Seriously, if you haven’t seen it, find it and watch it – she was spectacular.)

On a personal note – I’m glad that it’s November and that the year is drawing to a close. It’s been a tough one for us, with some  challenging episodes. It’s all taken a bit of a toll, and I ended up in hospital for 4 days this week with a stress-related health issue that took me quite by surprise. Fortunately, we’ve all come out the other side and I’m doing fine now, but we’re hopeful for an easier time of it next year.

But what did we cook in October?

Secret Sauce by Rosheen Kaul proved fascinating to the Lambs’ Ears Cookbook Club members, as we explored some innovative and exciting flavour combinations from her clever recipes. Kaul is not afraid to present a challenge, and when one recipe which required 1/2 cup of Korean chilli powder was queried by us as a possible misprint, she quickly confirmed that it was correct, and a very spicy dish indeed!
I’m still waiting for someone to try that one … 

Here’s a few snaps of some of our efforts. You can find more on our Facebook group page. 

So what’s happening in December

Well, Christmas is a summer event here in Australia, and it’s a time when many of us love to embrace the bountiful fresh seafood that’s on offer from our extensive coastline. It turns out that I have never nominated an exclusively seafood-based cookbook for a monthly choice – so I’m correcting that now. The Lambs’ Ears Cookbook club selection for December will be The Australian Fish and Seafood Cookbook, the encyclopaedic work by John Susman, Anthony Huckstep, Sarah Swan and Stephen Hodges.

This milestone cookbook contains all you need to know about selecting and preparing over 60 types of Australian fish and seafood, and includes notes on sustainability, the various flavour profiles and general cooking suggestions. It was first published back in 2017, so it should be relatively easy to source. I know it’s available here at Booktopia, and you should be able to snag a copy from your local library if that suits you better.

I’d suggest hunting out a copy before December – as we all know, there’s nothing like a big feed of seafood on the Christmas table, and it’s probably a popular reference work.

For now, we are cooking with Ottolenghi in November, and I know that you’ve all got at least one of his books – so have fun with bold flavours this month!

IF YOU HAVEN’T JOINED THE LAMBS EARS COOKBOOK CLUB YET, YOU WILL FIND ALL THE DETAILS HERE.

SO, 2025 IS LOOKING LIKE THIS SO FAR

Your whole-year cookbook will be any ONE cookbook from your own collection

November – ANY Ottoleghi book or online recipe
October – Secret Sauce by Rosheen Kaul
September – Boustany by Sami Tamimi
August – Slow Cooking by Olivia Andrews
July – citrus recipes from ANY of your own cookbooks
June – Some of My Best Friends are Cookies by Emelia Jackson AND The Bakers Book by Ruby Goss
May – Everything Is Indian by Justin Narayan
April – Too Easy by Donna Hay
March – What’s for Dessert by Claire Saffitz
February – RecipeTin Eats Tonight by Nagi Maehashi
January – Salad for Days by Alice Zaslavsky

 

PLEASE NOTE, AUSTRALIAN ONLINE BOOKSELLER BOOKTOPIA IS BACK IN BUSINESS. IF YOU PURCHASE ANY OF THESE COOKBOOKS FROM MY LINKS, YOU WILL GET A GREAT PRICE, AND I WILL GET A VERY SMALL COMMISSION.

[mc4wp_form id="16750"]